


Just A Dance (Kieran x Mary Beth)

by whoreforcowboyswrites



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:15:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23979577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoreforcowboyswrites/pseuds/whoreforcowboyswrites
Summary: During Jack's return party, Mary Beth sees Kieran alone and invites him to dance.
Relationships: Kieran Duffy/Mary-Beth Gaskill
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Just A Dance (Kieran x Mary Beth)

Jack's party had been a different kind of celebration. The mental strain of not having the boy safe at camp had dissipated, but the looming threat of Pinkerton's, O'Driscolls, and the rising tension between gang members was only getting worse. All they could do now was distract themselves with drinks and songs around the fire.  
Mary Beth had been humming along to Javier's guitar when she noticed Kieran away from the group. He sat alone on the steps of the old colonial house, drink in hand as he stared into the swamp. She always had a soft spot for him and wondered why he wasn't joining in with the rest of them.  
She wandered over and sat next to him as she asked, "What are doing all alone over here?" She tilted her head with the question, leaning down a bit to get a look at his face. He seemed miles away. "Little Jack is back, you should be celebrating!"  
"I'm just tryna let y'all have your moment," He answered, glancing at her before turning his attention back to the night. "I ain't wanted over there."  
Kieran had told himself he didn't belong there from the beginning. That he didn't deserve to enjoy himself, he didn't even belong in the camp. It was like Arthur said, it's his fault the kid was taken in the first place.  
She placed a hand on his and reassured him, "Oh Kieran, I want you with us. Come on, let's dance a little!" She urged.  
"I- I don't think this is such a good idea, Mary Beth." Kieran had a nervous stutter whenever he spoke, but with Mary Beth it became especially apparent.  
She stood and pulled him up with her as she led him closer to camp, "If I can get Arthur to dance with me, I know I can get you to." She teased.  
"Yeah, Arthur..." He tipped his head back as he finished his bottle. Anxiety washed over him with the thought of the repercussions of their frolic. "Are folk gonna take kindly to you dancing with an O'Driscoll?"  
"I know you're not an O'Driscoll, Kieran, and it's just a dance. Besides, Arthur acts big and mean, but he's a kind man behind it all."  
A kind man who was all too comfortable with Bill gelding me, he thought to himself.  
She took him to an open area near the fire, but not so close to the gang as they could still have some privacy. They stood together for a moment before Mary Beth guided his hands to her hips, which he quickly moved upwards onto her ribs. She draped her arms comfortably over his shoulders and began to sway. They were hardly dancing as Kieran held his arms stiff, barely moving as she danced circles around him. She paid no mind to his awkwardness and simply enjoyed getting him to spend time with someone besides the horses.  
"This swamp is something awful, ain't it?" She added, trying to make conversation. "Makes me miss Horseshoe Overlook."  
"I don't think I can say the same." He chuckled. He certainly didn't miss being tied to that tree.  
"I can understand why you wouldn't." She laughed.  
Mary Beth had been the only kind soul to him in that camp. She brought him water when he was bound, talked with him when no one else would, she even went out to town with him once. He knew she was kind to most everyone she came across, but something about her made him feel special. Kieran reckoned that making conversation with her on those afternoons when she read was the best decision he had made.  
"Oh! I finished that book you bought for me when we went down to Valentine." She gleamed as she recalled.  
When Kieran had asked her to go to town with him one day, she was ecstatic. They spent the day looking through the shops and enjoyed being away from the camp for the first time in weeks. He had no idea what the book was about when he bought it for her, but seeing how she lit up as she flipped through the pages, he knew he had to get it for her.  
"Oh, d- did you?"  
"I did, it was wonderful. Stories of princes and princesses, it was entirely romantic and made me blush on more than one occasion," She chuckled as she admitted. "It actually gave me an idea for a story of my own."  
"And what would that be?"  
"Well, it starts with a Lady and a Highway man, who she believes killed her husband-"  
Kieran's heart raced as he listened to her words. She was seemingly taken to another reality as she explained the novel's plot. The romance between the two characters and the twists and turns they would encounter, enthralled with her own universe. He held on to every word that escaped her lips, admiring how her mind worked and the way she pieced her words together. He wondered how a woman with such an elegant way of speaking was attracted to a stuttering fool like himself.  
He could have stayed like this forever. Listening to her talk, admiring how the distant fire illuminated and made her fleckled face glow. Her blushing look when she would go to explain a lewd point in the book, only to cut herself off with a slight embarrassed smile. He had never met a woman like her, and certainly not a woman who looked at him the way she did. She looked at him in a way that made him feel exposed, in a way. No one would give him a second glance in camp, but Mary Beth... She truly looked at him.  
"-Perhaps one day I'll become a famous writer and you can read it. If you want to, of course." She corrected herself, "I know you aren't fond of reading."  
He had told her that he hadn't fancied reading to hide that he had never been taught, but suddenly he didn't mind the idea. The labor of learning didn't seem like trouble at all if it meant he could experience her works. The thought made him smile  
"Yeah... Maybe one day," He grinned. "Maybe one day."


End file.
